8 Cars with Great Nicknames

Matt Tierney

The stronger your feelings for someone, the higher the probability that you call them something other than their real name. This is also true, especially so, for pets. The principle holds for objects as well, and certain vehicles, with their rich histories and distinct personas, are obvious candidates.

Our staff got talking around the digital watercooler and stumbled into a discussion of our favorite nicknames for various classics (and one oddball). If you only looked at the list of names, you’d think we just hit refresh on a random word generator, but for the most part, there’s a story behind the nickname given to each vehicle below.

Sometimes, the nickname is a reference to a valiant feat. Perhaps someone, once upon a time, came up with a memorable answer to “You know what that car reminds me of?” and the whole world picked up the word and ran with it. Whatever the case, we hope you enjoy our selections, and we encourage you to add your own candidates in the comments—preferably, with an explanation of how that vehicle got that name.

Pizza Butt

2001 Corbin Sparrow EV electric motorcycle
eBay/wmcs11

I’ll always have a soft spot for odd, obscure, and sometimes ugly cars. It doesn’t get much more odd or obscure or ugly or funny than the Corbin Sparrow EV and its “pizza butt” body style, designed for use by Domino’s. — Andrew Newton

Tin Lizzy

Courtesy El Pomar Foundation Archives

The greatest nicknames come from brave or interesting feats, which is why my nomination for interesting nicknames goes to “Tin Lizzie.” The moniker has been stuck to Model T Fords for over a century at this point and came after Noel Bullock entered a ragged, stripped down ‘T in the 1922 Pikes Peak Hill Climb. That car was called “Old Liz,” but the tin can appearance caused people to shift the name to Tin Lizzie. The rest is history. — Kyle Smith

Clown Shoe

2001 BMW Z3M Coupe clownshoe S54 manual
BMW | yourfriendsyd

As a Z3 dork, I’d be remiss if I neglected the Clown Shoe, aka M Coupe (and its lesser-known Z3 Coupe sibling). The Clown Shoe a goofy-looking car with a goofy name but a serious-business straight-six engine. BMW’s board approved the project on the condition that engineers retain as much of the existing Z3 roadster hardware as possible, which resulted in the car’s oddball roofline and cartoonish width. You either love it or hate it, but that’s part of the car’s appeal. For better or worse it looks like nothing else on the road. — Eric Weiner

Cobra Killer 

bill thomas cheetah rear three-quarter
Brandan Gillogly

My pick is the Bill Thomas Cheetah, Cobra Killer for short. But because I take pictures and can’t really put words together to save my life, I’ll let Aaron Robinson, who wrote about the car in 2023, spit it:

Cheetahs are certainly a weird and wild footnote of 1960s racing Americana. Anaheim, California, Corvette racer Bill Thomas created the tube-framed racing machine with backing from Chevrolet as a street and racing answer to the Ford-powered Shelby Cobra. However, in 1964 the FIA sports car homologation rules were changed from 100 cars to 1000 and General Motors, also facing congressional scrutiny over vehicle safety following the 1964 publishing of Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed, lost interest and yanked the cord on the program. The Cheetah was left high and dry.

Cameron Neveu

Turbo Brick

Volvo ad 740 turbo wagon lamborghini trailer
Volvo

If you’ve heard the phrase “Turbo Brick” used around Volvos, you’ll immediately get the reference. Purists will say this nickname only applies to the square-as-could-be 240s, but even the more aerodynamically-inclined 740, 960, 850, and early V/S70 are still pretty much slab-sided rectangles. This covers the turbo versions of most Volvos from the late ’70s till around 2000, and I’d say it fits about as well as any nickname could. — Eddy Eckart

Iron Pig

1977 Land Cruiser 55 front three-quarter
Toyota

I’ve always liked the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ55’s “Iron Pig” moniker. Not counting the rare FJ45, which was based on the stubby FJ40, the 50-series was the first true Land Cruiser wagon Toyota made. They are handsome, go-anywhere trucks with a distinctive front end, which is where the nickname comes from: some people see a pig’s face in the round headlights and compact grille. I don’t, but as nicknames go, Iron Pig is a great one. — Stefan Lombard

Goat

1966 Pontiac GTO front three-quarter
Matt Tierney

I think Pontiac’s GTO deserves a spot on this list, since it had a couple. Goat is the one I remember, though—supposedly just an affectionate play on its letters, as G.O.A.T. wasn’t yet the acronym it is today. As a kid, I thought it sounded tough, but I never quite understood it, as the ones I saw at car shows were often adorned not with goats but stuffed tigers, a reference to the ad campaign for the car. — Eddy Eckart

Catfish

Mecum

The refreshed fourth-gen Camaro was nicknamed “Catfish” because the new fascia, styled with a hint of 1970–73 Camaro, did sort of look like the bottom-feeding fish. — Brandan Gillogly

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Comments

    The simple shortening to “Vette” makes the list. But I guess the favorite GOAT may edge it out.

    “Vette” was the natural nickname for the Corvette. Not as much a nickname as simply the shortened moniker. Goat simply re-arranged the letters to mimic the GTO sound. It arrived a year after my driver’s license and to my way of thinking was a more fitting name. In 1963 goat went from being an animal to becoming a monster. The name and the car caught the nation by surprise and rocketed to fame and fortune. Too bad DeLorean couldn’t patent the name and concept. Insurance companies can end a type of vehicle but names are etched in granite.

    Agree! Guy in our unit was on heroin, and rolled one with guys in the back. He lived…

    Yep, my Dad had a ’66 that he bought in 1967 and owned it until he died last year. He said the same thing that the GTO would eat up anything else on the street at the time, hence it was like a goat.

    Without the Greatest Of All Time, so many lesser GM, FoMoCo, and Mopar owners would have been deprived of the rapidly receding view of those always memorable GTO taillights. Car was a public service, made people’s lives better😋

    Subaru a couple of years ago marketed its Outback as a GOOAT. Was this a tribute name? It is supposed to stand for Greatest Outback Of All Time.

    ..and the Duesy was so well made the nickname eventually applied to anything made to a high standard.

    They forgot the Bug, (the Beetle). Ain’t that the most famous nick name of all?! And the Mini?! And the VW Microbus?! WT . . . ?!

    Damn new keyboard and authoritarian.. Fixed version (mod pls del prior version)

    Given the list the massive abscence of anything from the LOTRS is a gaping hole. But to pick just one of the most aptly earned nicknames in history and recognized everywhere.. GODZILLA

    Not only due to its absolute dominance over everything anyone trier to compete with, but to the point they were effectively banned by rules changes written because of such total absolute dominance.

    Of the ones offered, I think GOAT wins out IMHO. But I think the AMC Pacer aka “pregnant roller skate” should have made the list.

    And the Alfa Romeo AR51, nicknamed “Matta”, which means “crazy”, a reference to its top-notch off-road capabilities the day of its demonstration in front of the Alfa Romeo boss.

    The 1987 Buick Grand National was nicknamed “Darth Vader ” because of the Blacked Out trim and appearance. Also was time appropriate for Star Wars movies.

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